Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 2.djvu/283

 9 th S. II. OCT. 1, '98.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

275

too good to be thus wasted on the desert air of a commonplace book. So forth it came at the expense of Kelly, who, having been a composer pi music, became a wine-merchant. ' You will,' said the ready wit, ' import your music and compose your wine.' Nor was this service exacted from the old idea thought sufficient, so in the House of Com- mons an easy and apparently off-hand parenthesis was thus filled with it at Mr. Dundas s cost and charge ('who generally resorts to his memory for his jokes, and to his imagination for his facts ')."

The exact reference *'. e., the precise occa- sion on which the mot was uttered I have not been able to find ; but perhaps the above note may have some interest in connexion with the subject.

C. LAWRENCE FORD, B.A.

DE LIANCOURT (9 th S. ii. 248). Your corre- spondent says that " there were three persons of this name known to all readers of French history." It is curious, however, that she excludes from her list the only De Liancourt that I should have ranked as an historical per- sonage. I am confirmed in my view when I turn either to the ' Biographic Universelle ' or to Vapereau's ' Litteratures.' Both of them name the duchess, daughter of Marshal Schomberg and wife of Roger Duplessis, Due de Liancourt, who made of Liancourt "le sejour de tpus les plaisirs honnetes," and who there received the chiefs of the Jansenist party. E. F. S. D.

LINWOOD'S PICTURE GALLERIES (8 th S. xii. 449, 517 ; 9 th S. i. 314). From the journal, or rather note-book, of a relative, I copy the following account of a visit in May, 1798. I fear it is very long, but it may be of interest as describing the exhibition when at its best :

"Miss Linwood's Needlework. There are two pieces' A Tigress,' copied from Stubbs, and ' The Woodman near Bath,' by Barker in which she greatly excels any paintings I ever saw. The tigress is nature in everything but animation ; the worsted is most admirably adapted to imitate fur, the brilliancy of her eyes is executed with silver thread. She is lying down, with head erect, her fore paws stretched out and one of her hinder feet invisible. The woodman is an erect figure as tall as life ; he is clothed in a blue, ragged jacket, with his bill under his arm, and has beside him a rough, sharp-looking dog, that steadily eyes his master. It is a snow landscape with cottages, trees, &c., all which are as highly finished as the two figures. A single carp, woodcocks and kingfishers, part- ridges, hare, lobsters and crab, American owl, Pomeranian dog, and oysters, are all finely executed. But the hare first, carp second, and lobsters and crab third, are superior to the rest.

"The ' Lpdona,' from M. Cosway, is a very fine piece. It is a subject from Pope's ' Windsor Forest.' A female figure, delicately in white, seated and hiding her face in the bend of her right arm, amongst a beautiful verdure, is melting into water. It is wonderful how the softness of the female can be so represented.

" The ' Madonna della Sedia,' from Raphael, is admirably executed. The face of the Madonna and the drapery on the right arm are the principal excellences. The former is very interesting.

" The 'Salvator Mundi,' from Carlo Dolce, is much spoken of, but I think, though it may be well exe- cuted, it expresses nothing interesting. It is too small for that effect, being only a single figure in a frame almost too small for it: the loaf which the Saviour holds in His left hand, and the cup which stands on the table, are certainly finely executed. But what are these ? The mechanism of the art. See the Saviour in West's ' Last Supper.' There is the poetry of it, surrounded by His disciples, whose attentions are variously fixed on their master ; our eyes are naturally led to the principal figure, and there we see a countenance divine indeed ; this expresses sincerity, resignation, tenderness, and affection, the other has no other sign of devotion than the uplifted eyes, and conveys no other idea than the cadaverous hue of a jail fever.

" ' Eloisa ' is another good piece from Opie ; but, though finely executed, by some means or other it is not interesting, perhaps because it is top small from the distance at which it is seen to distinguish much expression of the features.

"On the whole, it is a wonderful performance, and, as far as I can judge, far exceeds the capa- bility of the most skilful pencil. The whole ex- hibition consists of thirty - seven pieces, among which is an original, perhaps of her own, the most inferior of the lady's collection."

M. N. G.

[MR. JOHN T. PAGE sends an extract from Legh's ' New Picture of London,' 1839, p. 318.]

OLD ENGLISH LETTERS (9 th S. i. 169, 211, 258, 313). Allow me to ask PROF. SKEAT again how it can be with any certainty laid down that the name of the M.E. letter g, viz. yee, " was pronounced yea" And by the language signals yea is the yay sound signified ? B.

CECIL (9 th S. ii. 168, 238). It is not easy to satisfactorily answer BARBAROS'S query as to the correct pronunciation of this Christian name. My own experience points to your Correspondent's second method (i. e., sounded like "Sessill") as that most in vogue. The puzzle is, why the fair sex should also pos- sess the name. When encountered, for ex- ample, upon a title-page, it tends to confuse and irritate. A final e to identify the female lolder would no doubt prove a distinct relief to others besides myself. CECIL CLARKE.

Bexhill, Sussex.

The pronunciation of the name in the neigh- bourhood of " Burleigh-house by Stamford- . . vn " is, I think, best expressed by the spelling Sissil. In some old accounts found n the church chest at Kingsthorpe, near Northampton, there is an entry relating to 1547, which runs : " For a boytt to the Wycht rlawle to the Temple for Mr. Syssyll and me." The editor of these documents, published with